The present state of suction cooling of freshly harvested produce is well known. Typical of the techniques of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,774 and in a publication entitled "Commercial Cooling of Fruits and Vegetables" by Mitchell, Gauillou and Parsons, Manual 43, California Agricultural Experiments Station, Extension Service, available through Agricultural Publications, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (December 1972). In both of these disclosures, a single airflow is caused to flow through stacks of containers of freshly harvested produce in one direction into a central space between two rows of container stacks. A suction fan draws air through the containers and into the central space, then through the fan, then through an air cooler and back through the containers to the central space in a circulatory manner.
While the cooling technique disclosed in these publications has been satisfactory, such technique does not assure uniformity in cooling of the produce at the upsteam sides of the containers is cooled to a greater degree such as by a minimum of 2.degree. F. due to air warming as the air passes through the containers and in contact with the produce. Since cooling is not uniform with use of this technique, a need exists for an improved technique so as to reduce cooling time and to result in a more uniform temperature of the produce. The present invention satisfies this need.